The thing with life for us is we tend to let our excitement lay out the path before us. We get caught up in a moment and go with the saying, “We will figure it out as we go.”
Sometimes in life, that’s a great thing. Other times, it can be troublesome. Or can it?
When we moved out to the country a year ago, we brought our six chickens with us from the city.
We got a bit excited because we have 11 acres and ended up with over 35 chickens.
So, of course, I saw a few others selling eggs in our town and figured we could too.
I have learned over and over with blogging you can’t put eggs out and think they will sell right away.
Blogging is more than writing a post and sitting back and waiting for people to read it.
We decided to put up some more significant signs and get the word out.
It is essential when you start to sell eggs or any other goods at the road that you get to know the area around you.
I went under three weeks before I had my first sale. By the end of summer, I didn’t have enough eggs to keep up.
Part of that was thanks to those who were stealing.
I was in the living room, vacuuming the living room rug quickly to get rid of some of our German Shepard’s hair. Even though in 10 minutes, it will be right back to where it was.
I saw an old yellow truck pull up, blasting country music. A jolly older man stepped out, singing away.
Hmm, I thought. The loud music and the singing seemed okay, but my gut told me something was off. I kept vacuuming and then realized he was on the stand a bit too long. We are only selling eggs.
I went into the office to tell my daughter I was going outside.
When I came back out, I saw the man reach into his back pocket and then his hand got lost by the side of the farmstand. Looked like he dropped money into the can.
I went to get my shoes on, and he pulled away. I walked right over to the stand and looked in the cooler and the eggs were gone. I had three dozen out there and saw two other people stop that morning. I didn’t know at the time to grab the money out if you can after each customer.
I checked the money tin and everything was gone.
( We use a very miniature keg jar that was filled with nuts from Aldi- the top pops off.)
What got me the most was he pretended to pay.
It stirred a whole bunch of emotions in me. To the point I let my fear run wild, thinking someone will come to the door and harm us.
I started thinking about security and a lock box and whatnot. I was ready to pull the stand down.
Granted, it was a loss of $6- but it wasn’t about the money. It was the moral actions of a human being.
So the one thing many of us, including myself, forget to do before we make any big decision is praying. I got down, and I prayed about it. I prayed for my fears of new surroundings and a new thing we were doing. I gave all that to God.
I let him deal with it.
We decided after praying to keep our farm stand up. We used our kids’ fear about a bad guy to give Glory to God. In these times our kids can trust in Jesus for protection, that is of course, with practical steps in mind as well.
We have rules in place for the farmstand with the girls.
I’ve changed a few things too. I always take the money out when I can and never let the kids go out to the stand-alone.
It’s been two years now, and I don’t have enough eggs a day for people, and we haven’t had an incident since. We still use our can because we are frugal, and the cost of a lockbox isn’t worth the $4 or $6 a day we receive.
We pray for those who may need the eggs or the money. We pray for them. Because these situations are not about us, they are about others and how they need to feel loved.
So there you have it—our experience with theft at the farm stand.
*Update. We ended up closing the farm stand down; it wasn’t worth the people who started wandering our property knocking on our doors at all odd times. Even if we bought a lockbox, it wasn’t worth it. We would only have a couple extra dozen for sale anyways.
Now the extra eggs we do have, we give to our neighbors.
This isn’t to say a farm stand isn’t worth it, it can be for sure, but for me right now, it wasn’t worth the hassle.
READ OR PIN: How to Raise Chickens Like a Champ
Things to Consider When Somone Steals from Your Stand
1. Is it worth it to purchase a lockbox?
2. Is it worth it to install Security camera?
3. Are you home to keep an eye on the stand and able to take money out asap?
4. Is your farm stand open where others can see?
5. Can you sell to friends, family and neighbors instead?
6. Can you write a personal note sharing the importance of the honor system because this helps kee your farm going?
If you are selling eggs as a hobby consider what we did.
Tara
Friday 8th of March 2024
Next month will be one year operating our bakery/farmstand I have had significant loss But only one person is the problem The rest of the community is amazing You can see our little farmette on FB The Gate at 236 We brought in other area vendors which drives more business for everyone No regrets Except selling the house to the people next door Darn it
Julie
Tuesday 28th of May 2019
So, I understand that this is more about principle and the honor system... but realistically a lockbox costs 10 bucks. That's two days profit for peace of mind and getting back all of your time making trips out to empty the box. I also questioned if it was worth the investment when your only bringing in a few bucks a day, but I think the answer is yes it is.
Tasia
Wednesday 29th of May 2019
Hi Julie, I haven't found any lock boxes for $10 otherwise I would have gotten one. If you have a link for one I would love it. We don't put eggs out at the stand for profit so to speak. When we have extra eggs they go out :)
Skl
Tuesday 7th of November 2017
We too have a farm stand. It is on the honor system and we have had some theft with our produce as well. Our reactions were similar to yours. We decided to keep going and for forty years we have been doing great in spite of the few that we say maybe needed it and couldn’t afford it. We offer a prayer each time we are aware of the missing items. Maybe it was Gods way of telling us we helped someone in need. We have been blessed and trust God in all his goodness.
Tasia
Thursday 9th of November 2017
I love that you said maybe it was Gods way of telling us we helped someone in need. I love hearing you have been going for so long. We were almost ready to close it up, but so glad we haven't. Thanks for stopping by.